Chong Wei, unbeaten on the local circuit since 2003 and who has won eight straight national crowns, has previously stated that he would want to make it a perfect 10 on the local scene before stepping aside to allow younger players to taste success.

The world number one picked up RM7,000 for his effort in front of about 2,000 fans.

World number two Taufik Hidayat, although pushed to a rubber set match, defeated Febriyan Irvanaldy from Mutiara Bandung 21-15, 15-21, 21-14 during the opening of the 2011 Djarum Badminton Superleague in Surabaya on Sunday.

Taufik, playing for SGS PLN Bandung, is among several top seeds who clinched easy victories in the preliminary rounds of the Rp 1.3 billion (US$147,000) club tournament. The only top seed losing during the first day was world number eight Bona Septano.

The second Djarum Indonesian Badminton Super League will likely attract more spectators as world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia and world No. 2 Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia team up as players of the SGS PLN Bandung in the event starting Sunday.

Taufik, who is deputy chief of the SGS, said he was happy to have Chong Wei in his team and participating in the league.

“The approach started during the Malaysia Open [in January], I asked him whether he’d like to join Musica [Champion Kudus]. At that that time he said that he couldn’t make it. But when I asked him again, he agreed to join my club,” Taufik said during a drawing here on Thursday.

He hoped Chong Wei’s appearance would benefit the club and enliven the Rp 1.35 billion (US$150,000) event.

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) chief Djoko Santoso said that the association fully supported the league. “Hopefully, the league will produce more badminton heroes for Indonesia.”

PETALING JAYA: Resignation of his coach. Titles and big bucks. And a painful revelation.

Indeed, the month of January has been an extraordinary roller coaster journey for Lee Chong Wei.

The year started quite awkwardly for world No. 1 when his coach, Misbun Sidek, dropped a bombshell by sending in a resignation letter to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) via email on Dec 31.

But Chong Wei stayed focused and positive and went on to win the 2010 Super Series Masters title in Taipei, lifted the Malaysia Open for a seventh time and finished as the runner-up in the world’s richest tournament, the US$1.2mil South Korea Open.

And for his perseverance and strong show of will, Chong Wei reaped a total of RM430,600 in prize money from the three tournaments and in bonuses from the BAM.

It was a big bonanza for the hard working Chong Wei in a single month. He would have banked in more than RM500,000 if he had claimed the US$90,000 (RM275,000) top prize for the South Korea Open title. But he again fell short to beat China’s Lin Dan in the final.

Although Lin Dan was not in the best of condition to probably not showcase his full strength, he still managed to score a 21-19, 14-21, 21-16 win in more than an hour battle.